Week 4 Workshop: Shot breakdown and first storyboard

Turning last week's scene into a numbered shot list, then a rough storyboard thumbnail for each shot

15 March 2027

Production walkthrough: See how The Last One carried out this stage in a real production.

Before the workshop#

Bring the scene and intent note from week 3. Optionally download the shot list and storyboard template to fill in during the workshop instead of ruling your own grid.

In the workshop#

Activity 1 — Recap and briefing (10 min)#

Instructions: Recap the lecture’s test in one sentence before starting: a shot earns its place on the list only if the cut into it argues something about whether the character is getting what they want — not because it adds another angle on a beat you’ve already covered. Today’s task: your week 3 scene becomes a numbered shot list, then a rough thumbnail sketch under every entry. A shot is only finished once both its type and its one-clause purpose are written down; the workshop ends with a peer check against the two spec bullets above.

Expected output: Your week 3 scene and intent note in front of you, and a clear one-sentence statement of today’s task and how it will be checked.

Activity 2 — Build the shot list (40 min)#

Instructions: Working beat by beat through your scene, number each shot and name its type (wide, medium, close-up, insert, or similar) and its purpose in one clause. Filter every shot through the lecture’s test: what does the character want in this moment, and does this shot — cut next to the one before it — show whether they’re getting it? Don’t sketch yet. Before moving to the next beat, check your purpose against every purpose already on the list — if two match, one of the shots isn’t earning its place; merge or cut it now, not later.

Expected output: A complete numbered shot list for your scene, one type and one-clause purpose per shot, with no purpose repeated.

Activity 3 — Sketch the thumbnails (35 min)#

Instructions: Under each shot-list entry, sketch a rough thumbnail: a frame, a stick figure or two, and an arrow if a body or the camera moves. The drawing doesn’t need to be good — it needs to be legible enough that someone who has never seen your scene could stage the shot from it alone.

Expected output: One rough thumbnail sketch beneath every entry on your shot list.

Activity 4 — Dailies review (25 min)#

Instructions: Swap shot lists with a partner — list and thumbnails only, not the underlying scene. Working shot by shot, your partner describes out loud what meaning they think each cut is making: what the shot shows, and what it argues when placed next to the one before it. Wherever they can’t tell what a shot is doing from its number, purpose, and thumbnail together, that shot is coverage, not direction — merge it into a neighbouring shot or cut it.

Expected output: A shot list with every remaining shot legible to a partner who has never read the scene, and at least one shot merged or cut as a result of the review (or a clear note explaining why none needed to be).

Activity 5 — Completion check (10 min)#

Instructions: With your partner, walk both spec bullets as a checklist against your finished list: does every shot name a type and pair with a thumbnail, and does every shot state a purpose in one clause with no purpose repeated anywhere on the list?

Expected output: Both spec bullets confirmed against your shot list by your partner, or a named gap still to fix before the list counts as done.

Afterwards#

This list and its thumbnails are a first-draft storyboard. Week 6 expands it into a complete sequence for the whole short, and Assignment 1 collects that expanded version — keep this one, don’t start over.